


Dependancy

by Stonyinspirationwriter



Series: In the Eyes of a Boy [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Difference, Alcoholic Tony Stark, Arguing, Child Tony Stark, Codependency, Flashbacks, Godfather Steve Rogers, Godson Tony Stark, Guilty Steve, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Non-aging Steve Rogers, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pseudo-Incest, References to Drugs, Relationship Issues, Sad Tony, Steve Rogers Feels, Stony - Freeform, Superhusbands (Marvel), Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, eight year old Tony Stark, eighty-one year old Steve, high tony, no actual incest, stony au, thirty year old Tony, unhealthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 00:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15740604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stonyinspirationwriter/pseuds/Stonyinspirationwriter
Summary: Being in a relationship with someone much younger than yourself naturally came with its own set of difficulties, but being in relationship with someone fifty-three years your junior was unheard of. By the way, that individual also happens to be your Godson.





	Dependancy

**Author's Note:**

> Read Part one of the series to better understand the nature of the relationship. Also important to note that this version of Steve is darker than how he is usually portrayed. He's been awake for all his eighty-one years and has a history of self-loathing and unhealthy behavior to show for it.

1978 

“What's the matter, kid?” Steve asked.

Eight year old Tony Stark stared out the diner window at the cars speeding past, trying to focus on anything but the emotion he felt bubbling within him and making his eyes burn.  
He could feel his Godfather's prying eyes on him, as deep and as blue as any ocean—he always knew when something was bothering Tony. He was so in tune to his emotions, that Tony sometimes wondered if his Godfather had the ability to read minds. 

Steve Rogers wasn't a superhero. He wasn't like the legendary Captain America that had gone missing before he was born—although he had served in the army during that time. And while Tony idolized Captain America and filled his room with memorabilia, he could never compare to Steve and the special place he held in his life. Steve was the polar opposite of his father. Steve was patient; he intently listened to Tony no matter what complex stream of thought that was currently occupying his thoughts—even if Steve didn't completely understand what he was talking about. Steve never talked down to him, and always praised him on his latest invention—even when the stupid device didn't work. Most importantly, Steve seemed to actually enjoy spending time with him.

The problem with Steve, though, was that one moment he was a constant presence, and the next he'd disappear for weeks, sometimes months, with no contact.

“Nothin',” Tony mumbled, avoiding Steve's gaze.

“Something wrong with your burger?” Steve pressed. Tony shrugged in response. “Tony”, Steve gently prompted. “Please look at me.” Tony warily raised his gaze. “What's weighing on your mind?”

“Dad's sending me away.” Tony said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“To boarding school.”

A strange look passed over Steve’s features, and then his eyes momentarily flashed with what could be perceived as anger. He sucked in a breath and then slowly released it. “I’m sure he has his reasons”, he said tersely.

Tony’s face felt hot and his throat was tight. “Yeah”, he said, his voice strained. “Dad doesn’t want me around.”

He hated himself for crying, and that self hate only made the tears freely flow. He was so ashamed of himself for acting like a baby, especially in front of Steve. His father would be so disappointed.  
Tony hastily wiped his face with the sleeve of his sweater. “M'sorry.”

Steve got up and squeezed into Tony's booth, enveloping him in his huge, comforting arms. 

“Hey, hey”, Steve soothed. “You got nothing to be sorry for.”

Tony pressed his cheek against Steve's broad chest, inhaling the familiar scent of soap and something discernible on its own but completed the scent that made up Steve. Tony always felt the safest in his arms, like there was a force field protecting him from the world. If he could, he'd stay in Steve's arms forever.

“Stark men are made of Iron”, Tony recited, hearing his father's words echo in his head. “They aren't supposed to cry.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve challenged. “Well, even iron has a melting point.”

“2,800 Fahrenheit.”

Steve softly chuckled. “What I'm trying to say is that it's okay to cry.”

“Nah uh. Makes you weak.”

“Then I guess I'm weak.”

“No you aren't”, Tony emphatically stated, looking up at Steve with an obstinate glare. “You're not weak.”

“Sometimes I cry.” Steve factually stated.

Tony's eyes widened in disbelief. “You do?”

Steve nodded.

It didn't compute for Tony. Why would someone as big and strong as Steve have to cry about?

“What makes you cry?” Tony skeptically asked.

Steve pondered that for a moment. ‘Different things”, he said vaguely.

“Like what?” Tony pressed. “Because of aunt Peggy?”

Steve always told him stories about his wife--Aunt Peggy. He'd get this twinkle in his eyes whenever he spoke about her. But sometimes that twinkle would diminish, and he'd suddenly go silent and get this sad, faraway look in his eyes.

From the way everyone spoke of Peggy, Tony knew she was this amazing woman that everyone loved. He wished he could have met her but she died before he was born, although Tony had no idea how. 

The one time he dared to ask Jarvis he had gotten scolded for it.

“Gentlemen do not ask such tasteless questions, Anthony”, Jarvis had told him. “And you must never, under any circumstance, ask Steve.” Jarvis then had that same faraway look in his eyes that Steve would get. “Such an amazing woman”, Jarvis lamented. “All our hearts were broken beyond repair by her passing, but Steve...It nearly destroyed him. Thank God for you, Anthony.”

Tony wasn’t sure what Jarvis meant by that. What did he have to do with anything?

“Sometimes.” Steve admitted. Then quietly, “Not so much anymore”. 

Tony wanted to ask him why but before he could Steve added, “Your dad loves you very much. Trust me on that. He just shows it in his own Howard-like way.”

Tony wasn't sure he believed him. If his father loved him then why did he never want to be around him? Why did Steve find time to see him but his father never could? 

“Will you still see me?” Tony asked.

“Of course I will”, Steve reassured him, draping his arm around his shoulders and pressing him into a side hug. “Every chance I get. Steve stood up. Now finish your food.” Steve resumed his seat across from him.

The two of them ate in silence for a while. It was their last day together before Steve had to go on one of his long “trips”. Steve would be gone for however long—always felt like forever—and Tony would be starting boarding school. No Jarvis, no Ana, no mom, no dad, and no Steve. Once again Tony will be all alone.

“I don't like it when you go away.” Tony said glumly.

Steve frowned. “I know”, he sympathized. “But it’s my job.”

“I hate your job”, Tony grumbled, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. “You and Daddy are always working.”

Steve didn’t answer to that, he just kept staring at him with an apologetic look on his face.

“Are you going to miss my birthday again?”

Steve had been away on one of his business trips and had missed his last birthday. Nearly a whole eight months without any contact. As usual, his parents had thrown him a fancy party with important adults that patted his head like a puppy, along with their snobby children that liked to push him around. His parents always said those parties were for him but they never felt like it.

His parents didn’t celebrate the way Steve and the Jarvis’s did. Jarvis would cook him all his favorite dishes; Ana would bake her amazing German chocolate cake; Steve would buy him the coolest gifts–gifts personal to him. Gifts that his father would deem as a waste of time and would normally take away if it wasn't from Steve. Even his father didn’t have the courage to defy Steve, and Tony took comfort in that.

“I’m so sorry about that Tony.” Steve said with sincerity. But this, uh, trip, shouldn't be as long this time.”  
Tony scrunched his nose. Just because he was a kid didn't mean that he was stupid. He suspected that there was much more to Steve's allegedly boring government than he was sharing. Maybe that was why Steve looked so much younger than Jarvis and his father did. He was involved in something Top Secret for the government. Maybe he was a spy, just like James Bond. No, he couldn't be like James Bond—James Bond wasn't American.  
“Are you a spy?” Tony asked point blank.  
Steve raised his eyebrows and an amused grin spread across his face. “Someones been watching too many espionage films.”

“Are you?” Tony demanded.

Steve made a show of checking over his shoulder before leaning forward conspiratorially. “Well”, he said, dropped his voice. “I wouldn't be much of a spy if I told you, would I?”

He had a point. Steve didn't need to tell him. Tony was certain that one day he would discover the truth on his own.

“Fine”, Tony resigned. “Just promise you'll come back?” 

“I’ll always come back to you.” Steve's eyes burned with a passionate fervor. “You hear me? You’re the only reason I come back.”

 

2001

 

Steve should have seen this coming. 

That’s what he gets for dating a Goddamned thirty-year-old. What a stupid old fool he was for convincing himself this Freudian-mess could actually work.

It’s over. 

He’ll catch a flight back to DC, go back to being estranged and keeping tabs on Tony from afar. Make sure he hadn’t managed to kill himself yet.

Being in a relationship with someone younger than yourself naturally came with its own set of difficulties, but being in relationship with someone fifty-three years your junior was unheard of outside the usual decrepit millionaire and young gold digger.

Steve guessed that in their case there would need to be a role-reversal and he’d be considered the old gold digger since Tony was actually the young billionaire in this equation.

It was ludicrous if one took the time to consider the dysfunctional dynamic: What did a handsome, young billionaire with the world at his fingertips possibly have to gain in dating an old man?

Although, in Steve's case, old men didn’t typically resemble their thirty-year-old selves in their eighties.

Steve goes on a three-month mission for SHIELD, Tony reverts back to being an over-privileged child that parties all night, then all hell breaks loose!

There are times when Tony seemed so much wiser than his thirty years that it appeared as though his soul was older than his physical body. During those times they were on par in their relationship and Steve found it easier to forget their strange circumstance. Then Tony would go and pull something like this and like a slap in the face Steve would be reminded of his immaturity.

Yet Steve was undeniably in love with the Stupid-Shit, even if he couldn’t currently remember why.

These are the kind of agitated thoughts that currently ran through Steve’s mind as he drove down the dark, winding roads of the Malibu 

Steve’s mission had been cut two weeks short and he had immediately hoped on the nearest flight to California to surprise Tony, but as it turned out, Steve was the one that had been surprised.

What got Steve through these arduous missions was always the need to come back to Tony. And after a long, torturous three months he was bursting to be reunited with his Tony. To be able to hold him in his arms, to kiss his lips, to take in his scent.

A little over a year had passed since they'd officially become an item. Even with their crazy work schedules--Steve with his work for SHIELD, and Tony running Stark Industries, they had managed to make it work, even if it meant flying back and forth just for so much as a night together. When Steve wasn’t traveling the world on another mission or stuck in headquarters training field agents, he would spend his time with Tony at his Los Angeles residence.

By the time Steve had finally pulled up to the Malibu mansion it was three am and it immediately became apparent that things were not going to go as planned.

The place was packed with inebriated people that Tony most likely barely knew. The thumping of music, the booming voices of inebriated party goers, the isolated sounds of people having sex somewhere on the second floor —a cacophony of endless noise that Steve's hyper-sensitive ears had no choice but to amplify. 

The rich and shameless partying without obligation or consequence.

“Stay with me.” An intoxicated brunette in a short skirt had latched onto his arm during his search for Tony. “Getta know me a bit”, she slurred. “I know you’ll like me.” She wavered, using his arm to steady herself.

“Miss, you best go home now”, Steve had cautioned. “I hope you have a sober companion to take you home, or I can call you a cab.”

“How a’out you take me home?” She attempted a flirtatious wink, and horribly smudged makeup, she instead looked like she was either experiencing a stroke or her heavily applied face was melting off.  
“I’ll call you that cab”, Steve decided, carefully sitting her down on the couch before hurrying away.

He wondered if it was just his old age, but the youth seemed to be digressing more and more each generation.

After an extensive search of the ridiculously large mansion, He had finally spotted Tony on the third floor just as he had been exiting what he himself had dubbed “The Recreation Room”, along with two girls and a guy with dread locks.

While the girls went their separate way the guy stood too close to Tony, his body language screaming flirtation as he leaned close to say something in Tony's ear that Steve's super hearing couldn’t decipher over the music. Whatever he said caused Tony to flash a wicked grin.

Steve experienced a foreign surge of jealousy within him. “Tony!” His voice carried over every other sound, commanding and authoritative, the way he spoke to his team.

At the sound of his name Tony looked up with a dumbfounded expression that quickly spread into a wide, dopey grin when he laid eyes on Steve.

Tony ran up to him, gleefully squealing, “STEEEVVVVE!!!!” before slamming into Steve and tightly wrapping his arms around him. “You’re here!” Tony exclaimed, looking up at him with dilated pupils and a wild grin. “When did you get back!?" His breath smelled like whiskey.

“Just now.” Steve said, suspiciously examining his lover’s state. “What’s going on?”

“How could I not be now that my sexy Super Soldier is back?” Tony moved in for a kiss that Steve deflected by pulling away.

“People will see”, Steve reminded him as he quickly scanned the room.

They weren’t publicly out as a couple and hadn’t made any current plans to do so. Even after all this time the world’s progress on acceptance was minuscule. The ramifications would be severe and would negatively impact the production of Stark Industries, and not only compromise Steve’s position at SHIELD, but also reveal his identity. No one knew who the man behind the Captain America costume was, and as far as the world was concerned, Captain America was a ghost.

“Pfftth!” Tony waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “They wouldn’t even notice. But going somewhere private is a much better idea. Come on, let’s go to the bedroom.” Tony tugged on his hand. “You have no inkling what a torturous few months its been without your dick.”

“Hold on”, Steve said, nonplussed by the proposition. “What’s all this?”

“Uh, yeah”, Tony said, regarding Steve with an incredulous expression. “I know it’s been a while, Big Guy, but this is a par-ty.” A sputtering sound erupted from his lips and he erupted into laughter.

“It’s three am.”

“Wow, babe! I had no idea you were this party-deprived.” Tony laughed. “I need to fix that.”

Since Tony was a teen his excess drinking had been reminiscent of Howard’s alcoholism, which had rightfully been a cause of concern. Howard’s downfall had come from the bottom of a bottle. He’d use liquor to silence the demons that dwelled in his mind, but in doing so he had drowned himself. 

Tony still drank, but in the year they'd spent as a couple Steve had believed that Tony’s excess drinking had diminished, but now it was apparent that he was mixing drugs with his alcohol.

Steve wasn’t naïve. With the kind of life Tony led Steve was pretty certain that Tony had experimented with drugs at some point, but he had sincerely believed Tony was way past that experimental stage.

Steve placed his hands on Tony’s shoulders and looked him square in the eye in order to convey the severity of the situation. “What did you take?”

“Take?” Tony inquired. Steve remained staring at him expectantly. Tony continued to innocently stare at Steve with those brown, doe-eyes of his until he finally submitted to Steve’s gaze. “Okay”, Tony acquiesced. “The problem is that I haven’t.” Then with a smirk, “I’d really like for you to take me from–“

Steve didn’t need to hear that whole sentence to know where it was going.

“You’re obviously drunk”, Steve jumped in, “But your pupils are dilated”, he assessed. “ And since we’ve been talking your heart’s been beating like you’re running a marathon. So don’t bullshit me. I know you’re high.”

“Am I not allowed to party anymore?” Tony said, his smile faltering. “I’m running a billion-dollar Industry; I think I deserve to blow off some steam.”

“What are you on?” Steve demanded.

“You’re overreacting…” Tony said in a sing-song voice.

Steve’s irritation then sparked into rage; he felt it boiling in his blood and bubbling in his chest.

“How could—!” Steve stopped himself, instead releasing some of his frustration in a huff of air. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dammit, Tony.” He said through gritted teeth. “This is what you do when I’m gone?”

“Relax, Mother Hen.”Tony attempted to relax him by rubbing soothing circles on his broad chest. “I only use on special occasions”, he explained. “I'm celebrating the closing of a huge deal. And I’d have shared with you, but you know, the whole Super Soldier thing…”

Steve hadn’t flown all the way to California just to babysit his full grown boyfriend. He was tired and the last thing he wanted to do was deal with Tony’s stupidity.

“You know what”, Steve decided. “ Just do what you want. I’ve had a long three months and I’m going to bed.”

There was an air of finality in his decision, and as if to accentuate that fact, Steve brushed past Tony and descended the stairs.

“Steve!” Tony called, hurrying to catch up with him. “Are you mad?”

“Nope!” Steve sarcastically quipped, maneuvering through the throngs of people. He was agitated and had to swallow down the urge to shove party goers out of the way.

Steve finally made it out the front door only for Tony to stumble out ten paces behind him.

“Steve! Wait up! Please!” Steve finally stopped and turned to him. “Where are you going?”

“To sleep”, Steve said curtly. “It’s late and I'm exhausted.”

“Why are you mad?”

“I'm not mad. I’m irritated, and frankly, I'm disappointed. I thought you had finally out grown this behavior.”

“What the hell do you want from me!?” Tony snapped.

“I want you to act like a adult. I don't want to come home to you high off your ass. You're thirty years old!”

“Jesus Christ, you sound like Howard!”

“I guess someone has to be”, Steve said darkly. “I really didn’t think it’d have to be me”. Steve turned on his heel. “Goodnight, or good morning–whatever it is.”

“Pull that giant stick out of your ass!” Tony spat. “I don’t know what fucking decade your mind currently resides, but for the rest of the world it’s the year 2000! And I’m not your son or whatever messed up fantasy you have going on! And I’m sure as hell am not eighty years old!”

It was a punch to the gut?, but Steve was ready to punch back. 

“What you are is an over-privileged, overgrown child!” Steve shouted back before stalking away.

“Fuck you!” Tony yelled after him, followed by the slamming of the front door.

As Steve drove, he wondered why he was grasping onto an inevitably doomed relationship. Was his brain really that screwed up? Had time preserved his body but taken its toll on his mental capability?  
He was going to end things with Tony. The whole relationship had been doomed from the start.

But as soon as he made the decision he experienced a nagging pull at his stomach. A festering ache that sprang from the pit of his stomach and spread to every part of his body.  
What was life without Tony? He'd experienced it before: Pointless, bleak , insufferable.

From the moment Steve had first held him he knew Tony would forever hold his heart. When his feelings for his Godson had started to shift to something else as he entered adulthood, Steve had kept his distance, despite how painful it had been. In the end, all it had done was not only cause immense pain for the both of them, but delay the inevitable.

He meant it whenever he’d told Tony he loved him, but now that they were in a relationship, that love had evolved into something completely new, both wonderful and frightening.

He had blurted it out at first during the dizzying heat of passion. He had cried it out like a desperate confession as his body trembled with the painfully wonderful stimulation of sexual pleasure. He wasn’t sure if the words had even registered with Tony at the time. So later, as they came down from their euphoric high, Steve needed to make sure Tony heard and understood it.

Tony was resting comfortably with his head on Steve's chest, their legs entangled together. 

“Tony”, Steve murmured, running his fingers through his lovers sweat dampened hair.

“Hm?” Tony murmured, eyes closed as he started to doze off

“Hey, Kid”, Steve gently said, prompting his attention. Tony sleepily raised his head and looked up at him bleary-eyed. “I just…”

Steve suddenly self-conscious under his young lover’s gaze. After a moment’s hesitation he had decided that it was best to just come out and say it.

“I love you”, Steve said, his eyes intensely locked onto Tony’s eyes. “I always have, but now I….I love you, you know? You don’t have to say anything”, Steve quickly added. “I just want you know.”

After a few torturous moments under Tony’s stare, the genuine smile that graced his face and touched his eyes brought great relief.

“I love you, Steve”, Tony earnestly said. “I've never felt like this before. Not for anyone.” Tony pressed his lips against his and Steve relished every moment.

After he'd lost his Peggy he had thought his life was over. Nevertheless that he'd ever love again.

The love he felt for Tony was significantly different to the way he had loved Peggy, but that didn't make it any less so. It was something else entirely that he couldn’t begin to explain.

Tony wasn’t Peggy, though.

Steve was sure of what he had with Peggy. He never doubted that she was his.

Steve envisioned Tony pressed up against the dread lock guy as their tongues wrestled for dominance. The guys filthy hands were grabbing at Tony, touching him in intimate places until there was not a stitch of clothing between them. 

Tony’s head is thrown back in a silent moan as the guy moves into him. Then, as though Tony sensed Steve watching, he looks up to meet his eyes and mischievously grins, mocking him, daring him to do something about it.

Steve slams on the breaks so abruptly that the tires screech. He lets out an angry yell, pounding his hands against the steering wheel.

Once the anger has been released and his eyes clear up a bit, he finds himself vaguely alarmed. What was Tony doing to him? It drove him crazy when he couldn't have him, and now that they were together he was still driving him crazy.

Steve continued to aimlessly drive as he reflected on the entire history of their relationship.

From the first time Steve held that baby boy in his arms he knew that he would forever hold his heart.

He may have been Howard's and Maria's son, but he was Steve's everything.

Tony was the reason he didn’t allow himself to die in combat, despite what a relief it would have been.

As Tony's Godfather he had promised to always be there for him. To guide him. To keep him safe.

When Tony had first kissed him, Steve had viewed himself as a threat to him, and like he would have done with any other threat, he'd removed himself. He hide from Tony, only allowing himself to watch from affair.

Tony had naturally felt abandoned.

If they were to end their romantic relationship Steve would still be there for him if he ever needed him. He would swallow his heart break and jealousy and let Tony be happy with someone else, even if it killed him. That’s what you were supposed to do when you loved someone, right? 

Steve spent hours listlessly driving until the sun had long risen. When he gathered up the courage to go back to Tony it was nearly noon.

The mansion was a disaster. Discarded cups of alcohol littered every table. And what was that on the floor? Confetti? There were people passed out in random places, and in the oddest of positions.  
Steve had to brace himself when he reached Tony's bedroom door. He stood there for a good minute, his hand resting on the knob. He took a long breath and turned the knob. It was empty. The bed hadn’t appeared to have been slept in.

Steve searched all ten floors for Tony, urgency building with every passing minute. He was nowhere to be seen. Where could he have gone? Had he done something stupid after their fight? Was he hurt somewhere?

Steve was prepared to scour all of Los Angeles in search of him.

Just as Steve made his way down the stairs he stopped in his tracks, remembering the pool area, and hurried back down to the fifth floor.

Tony was passed out on a pool side chair. He was curled into himself in a way that reminded Steve of when he was a small child.

Steve crouches beside him and soothingly runs his fingers through Tony's dark hair. His nose twitches in his sleep and he makes a humming sound.

“Hey, Kid.” Steve says, a smile on his lips.

At the sound of his voice Tony's eyes flutter open. “Steve?” He croaks, his voice still horse from sleep. “You came back?” He’s eyes are blood shot, lids slightly swollen. Steve knows he had cried himself to sleep.

Steve's heart sinks. “Of course I did”, he reassures him, taking a seat at the chair parallel to him.

“But I thought—” The words die in Tony's throat, and he moves his face away from Steve.

“You thought what?” Steve gently prompts.

A stray tear runs down Tony’s cheek, and when he speaks his voice trembles. “That you didn’t love me anymore.”

Steve's own eyes began to water. 

“Tony", he prompts. When Tony doesn’t look up Steve gently cups his chin and raises his head. “Listen to me. Nothing you could say or do could ever stop me from loving you. Even if…” Steve hesitates. “If we were no longer involved.”

“Is it over?” Tony asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Do you want it to be?”

Tony shakes his head. “No. Do you?”

“No.”

They stare each other for a few moments as if they are waiting for the other to decide the next move.

“I’m sorry”, Tony then says, his golden brown eyes imploring forgiveness. He wipes his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “I'll be better. Just please don’t leave me again.”

Then it dawns on Steve that Tony is still afraid that he will abandon him, and Steve hates himself for having caused Tony such emotional pain. 

Steve crosses to him and sits on the foot of the chair facing him. “Never”, Steve promises, stroking the younger man's cheek. "Not ever again. I’m sorry about last night. This whole thing is still new for me. I technically haven’t been in a relationship since the fifties. I'm still treading water. And It’s so hard to be away from you. To not know what you're doing... or who you’re with...”

“You think I’d cheat on you?” Tony says, affronted. “You don’t trust me?”

“No, no! It’s—fuck! Don’t you see how crazy you make me? You can have anyone you want. Someone better for you.”

“I want you, you dumbass! I’ve only ever wanted you. You really need to stop making decisions for me. Every time you leave I think you're just gonna disappear on me.”

“I made you a promise when you were a kid,--do you remember? I promised that I’ll always come back to you. I’m sorry I hurt you before. The thought of seeing you is the only thing that keeps me going. I just need you to be safe.”

“Goes both ways, Cap.”

Steve grimaced. “You know I hate when you call me that.” 

“Is that so?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “It seemed to elicit a positive response in the bedroom.”

Steve felt a twinge of embarrassment. 

“Um, lets keep it strictly there, then.” Steve stood up. “Come on”, he said, offering Tony his hand. “I’m exhausted. Lay down with me for a while, huh?” He helped Tony up but as he took his hand to lead him to the bedroom, Tony met him with resistance.

“Wait”, Tony said. Steve turned back to him with concern. “Kiss me.”

Steve hoisted the younger man in his arms, one hand balancing underneath his buttocks and the other tangled in his dark hair as they shared a slow, but hungry kiss.

Once in the bedroom the two men broke away to strip down to their underwear and slid underneath the comforter.

Tony climbed in behind Steve, tightly wrapping his arms around the larger mans waist and pressing his body against his back. Tony kissed the back of his neck.

“Yours”, Tony whispered into his ear.

“Mine”, Steve whispered back, placing his hands over Tony's.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm open to exploring these complex characters more, as well as their unconventional relationship--especially if people are interested. Please comment on what you'd like to see further.


End file.
